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Upper West Side Couple Settles Suit Over a Neighbor’s Smoke 

The war over secondhand smoke at the Ansonia has ended.

A couple at the Ansonia, a historic Upper West Side apartment building, who had sued a neighbor over her wafting cigarette smoke have agreed to settle their lawsuit, one of the plaintiffs said on Monday.

The plaintiffs -- Jonathan Selbin and his wife, Jenny, both lawyers -- had sued their fourth-floor neighbor, Galila Huff, claiming that smoke seeping from her condo into the common hallway was jeopardizing the health of the Selbins' young son.

Mr. Selbin confirmed the settlement and said Ms. Huff had agreed to take steps to minimize the spread of her smoke.

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Tobacco Mafia defendant pleads not guilty 

BELGRADE -- Sinisˇa Stojcˇic´, charged with illegally importing and selling cigarettes in the 1990s, yesterday pled not guilty.

He told the Special Organized Crime Department of the Belgrade District Court that it is impossible that his brother, former deputy interior minister Radovan Stojcˇic´, a.k.a. Badzˇa, "who fought against crime, could have organized a criminal group", the so-called Tobacco Mafia.

Sojcˇic´ said that the charges are a "product of hate against his brother and his business success".

He added his brother, a high-ranking MUP commander during the Milosˇevic´ regime, could not have smuggled and sold cigarettes illegally in 1997, because he was killed in April 1997. . . .

A group of nine people is being charged for illegally importing and selling cigarettes on the territory of Serbia in 1997, costing the state about USD 2mn.

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Comments - Editors' Selections 

• LETTER: Smoking Out Danger Via Tort Cases  

In response to John Stossel's opinion piece ("Small Victories for Tort Reform," April 4): Mr. Stossel argues that I am a "legal bully" for trying to protect my four-year-old from my neighbor's secondhand smoke that billows through our shared hallway, and for having participated in recovering more than $2 billion for American consumers who have been defrauded out of their hard-earned money by large corporations. . . .

The typical settlement in my cases results in consumers being reimbursed out-of-pocket expenses (often hundreds or thousands of dollars each), as well as an extended warranty to protect them in the future, which means Mr. Stossel is right about another thing: I am proud of what I do.

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• Ohio House votes to take control of tobacco prevention funds 

The Ohio House Tuesday threw the latest punch in the fight over the state's tobacco prevention funds.

With Gov. Ted Strickland waiting to sign the emergency measure into law, the House voted 89-5 to immediately take control of $230 million in the trust overseen by Ohio Tobacco Prevention Foundation. The Senate was expected to follow suit.

The fund was created with proceeds from the state's multi-billion dollar settlement with major tobacco companies in 2000, and lawmakers and governors have been siphoning off the money ever since.

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LETTERS: Article Comments: Readers' Recommendations  

Proposed cigarette tax hikes pack price by $1 

A cigarette tax hike proposed by House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has gained the backing of Senate President Therese Murray and, if passed, would increase the price per pack by $1. Murray said the measure has strong support among her legislative colleagues at the State House. Extra revenue generated by the tax increase will help cover the higher than expected costs of the state's landmark health care law, she said.

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'Outraged' teens mobilize to fight smoking 

On a day when The Associated Press is reporting that scientists have pinpointed a genetic link that makes people more likely to get hooked on tobacco, teens throughout the valley were working to clean up smokers' mess.

Members of OUTRAGE swarmed area parks on Tuesday, sweeping cigarette butts. The group works primarily to protect children from the effects of cigarettes, including second-hand smoke. According to the American Lung Association, secondhand smoke is responsible for as many as 300,000 lower-respiratory-tract infections in infants and results in up to 15,000 hospitalizations each year.

OUTRAGE members found most of the cigarette butts around playground equipment.

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Japan Tobacco Profit Rises 15% on Overseas Sales (Update3) 

Japan Tobacco Inc., the world's third-largest publicly traded cigarette maker, said nine-month profit rose 15 percent on higher overseas sales, bolstered by last year's takeover of Gallaher Group Plc.

Net income was 222 billion yen ($2.08 billion) in the nine months ended Dec. 31 from 193.5 billion yen a year earlier, the company said in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange today. Sales rose 29 percent to 4.7 trillion yen.

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SMOKERS AND THAT "DOUBLE-WHAMMY" GENE. 

"What this finding means is that some individuals --- who are unfortunately at higher risk for getting lung cancer if they carry the genetic factor --- also may find it more difficult to quit."

The gene variations in these new studies could help explain some of the anomalies we all know about: 90-year-old smokers who don't get cancer, for example ... and why some people get hooked on nicotine and some don't.

All of these new studies link the variations on Chromosome 15 to lung cancer, says CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Emily Senay ... but they disagree as to how it works.

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From May, no lighting up at most public places in capital 

Beijing will ban smoking in most public places starting from May 1 - a big step toward tobacco control in a nation of 350 million smokers.

The move will also meet China's pledge of a smoke-free Olympics.

More than 150 Chinese cities already have limited restrictions in place, but the capital will be the first to ban smoking in all restaurants, offices and schools.

Beijing has had some smoking restrictions since 1996, when the municipal government prohibited lighting up in large public venues such as schools, sports arenas and movie theaters.

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Six N.J. ShopRites Said Stubbing Out Cigarettes 

By null

Supermarkets of Cherry Hill reportedly decided to stop carrying tobacco products because high state taxes are burning right through category profits.

The tobacco-free retailing movement, which gained considerable momentum last month when Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans Food Markets ceased offering tobacco products at its locations, continues to spread: By the end of March, all six New Jersey ShopRite stores owned by the Ravitz family through their company, Supermarkets of Cherry Hill, reportedly will also stop selling all tobacco items.

Unlike Wegmans' stated reason, which was health concerns first and foremost, the Ravitzes apparently based their no-tobacco strategy mainly on economics.

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Secondhand Smoke  

Fact Sheets

* Secondhand Smoke

* Exposure

* Trends in Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among U.S. Nonsmokers: Progress and Gaps

* Health Effects

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State officials try to put big dent in smoking 

Arizona's 15 counties will blitz churches, Block Watch groups, social-service agencies, schools and neighborhood associations with anti-tobacco information beginning this fall, under the Arizona Department of Health Services' new battle against tobacco.

With the tobacco-tax revenue that funds the programs declining, state and local public-health officials hope to get the biggest bang for the buck by shifting from today's generic anti-tobacco messages to focus on specific groups of nicotine users.

Officials expect about a 17 percent drop in tobacco-tax revenue next fiscal year to about $21 million from about $25 million this year. Health officials said it's unclear if the decline represents a decrease in tobacco use or a move toward buying smokes online and on Native American reservations.

"The smoking rate (in Arizona) is sort of in a stuck mode,"

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EDITORIAL: Enact smoking bans 

With the recent ruling by the S.C. Supreme Court that local governments have the authority to ban smoking in public places, Rock Hill and York County should waste no time in enacting smoking bans. . . .

Ample precedent exists for smoking bans. Hundreds of cities and counties nationwide have bans of varying toughness.

It's a simple matter of government protecting the health of residents. We hope the city and county will move quickly to do just that.

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